ACC ~ Matthew 7 v12

WHATEVER YOU WISH OTHERS WOULD DO TO YOU

CHRYSOSTOM: In this statement Jesus briefly sums up all that is required. He shows that the definition of virtue is short and easy and known already to all. And he did not merely say, “Whatever things that you want,” but “Therefore [1] whatever things that you want.” For he did not add this word therefore in its straightforward sense, but rather he used it with a deeper meaning. He is saying, “If you want to be heard, do these things in addition to those about which I have already spoken.” What are these additional things? “Whatever are those things that you want people to do to you.” Do you see how this shows that our wishes imply careful regulation of our behavior? Note that he did not say, “Whatever things that you want God to do for you, do these things to your neighbor.” Thus you cannot say, “How is that even possible? He is God and I am a human being!” Instead, Jesus said, “Whatever things that you want your fellow servant to do, you yourself also perform for your neighbor.” What is less of a burden than this? What is more just? Then the praise is exceedingly great: “For this is the law and the prophets.” From this it is clear that virtue is defined in accordance with our nature. So we all know within ourselves what our duties are. We cannot ever again find refuge in ignorance. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 23.5. [2]

[1] “So” in the RSV text.

[2] PG 57:314; NPNF 1 10:161-62. You know what you wish others to do for you. Hence it is clear what you ought to do for others.

WHETHER LOVE OF GOD IS IMPLIED IN THE COMMAND

AUGUSTINE: Elsewhere Jesus says that there are two precepts on which the whole law and the prophets depend. [1] The present precept seems to concern only the love of neighbor and not the love of God as well. Of course, if he had said, “All things whatever you wish to have done to you, [2] do you also those things,” he would then have embraced those two precepts in the one maxim, for it would be readily understood that everyone would wish to be loved by both God and other persons. So, when someone would be given that one precept—when he would be required to do whatever he would wish to have done to him—then he would of course implicitly be given the other precept as well: that he should love both God and neighbor. But it would seem that the present maxim means nothing more than “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” [3] for it seems very expressly restricted to persons, since it reads, “Whatever you wish that people would do to you, do so to them.” However, we must pay close attention to his further observation on this point, for Jesus goes on to say, “This is the law and the prophets.” In the case of the previously mentioned two precepts, he did not say merely that “the law and the prophets depend on them.” He said that “the whole law and the prophets depend” on them, for that is the sum of prophecy. But by omitting the word whole in the present instance, he seems to reserve a place for the other precept—the precept that pertains to the love of God. At any rate, the present instruction is one that was most apt for the occasion when he was expounding the precepts that pertain to singleness of heart. For there might be reason to fear that a person may have a double heart toward another, since the matters of the heart are hidden. But there is hardly anyone who would wish that others would deal double-heartedly with oneself. It is impossible for one to render service single-heartedly to another unless one renders it in such a way that one looks for no temporal advantage from it. And one cannot do this unless one is motivated by the kind of intention that we have sufficiently discussed earlier, when we were speaking about the eye that is single. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.22.75. [4]

[1] “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-38; see also vv. 39-40).

[2] Not by human beings only but also by God.

[3] Mt 22:39.

[4] PL 34:1304; FC 11:185-86**. Does this limited way of stating the maxim stand in tension with the other twofold (love of God and others) way of stating the maxim? This way of stating the maxim as pertaining primarily to human relationship does not contradict the other ways of stating the maxim as encompassing the love of God and the neighbor. No one can serve another with a single heart unless one renders that service in such a way that one looks for no temporal advantage, which one cannot do unless motivated by the love of God.